...but teaching children to cook healthy food for themselves makes a difference
AS CHILDHOOD obesity continues to rise, a new book out this week aims to help parents to teach their children more about healthy eating. Author and healthy eating expert Deirdre Doyle and her team at the Cool Food School have been teaching children about food through interactive workshops since 2018, trying to root out unhealthy habits before they start. Ms Doyle, a mother-of-three and a graduate of the Irish Institute of Health and Nutrition, says people always tell her that their children love cooking, but what they actually mean is baking.
She told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘We see a lot of children who can make cookies or muffins or whatever it is, but that’s not cooking and if you’re eating those kinds of foods every day, you’re going to be unhealthy – you’re going to gain weight.’
As recent data about obesity levels have found, Ms Doyle, left, said many bad habits set in during the pandemic.
‘It was particularly bad during the lockdown when everyone was baking,’ she adds. ‘It’s understandable but it’s time to focus kids on cooking again now. That’s why I have very few recipes for baking in the book.’